Almost every student in our ministry has a cell phone and they are itching to get it out and use it. I do not want to encourage misuse and distraction, but I figure if it’s available and has ministry potential, I might as well try and leverage it. Here are some ideas you can use to leverage cellphones in your ministry, too:
- Polleverywhere.com: Free and pay for options. this service is more than polls. It is robust.
- #yourministry or #yoursermonseries: You probably don’t have enough people tweeting to get your hashtag trending but it is a good way for our students to let their friends know about their church.
- Text a friend: Challenge student to text a friend and ask if there is anything they can pray for. Then have them pray.
- Instagram Video Challenge: Silly videos for announcement, youth group invites and tag friends or “we missed you tonight” video tagging friends. Think of other video reenactments or games you could play.
- Instagram pix with #hashtags: We asked students to snap and post a picture from one of our prayer stations.
- I Love My Youth Group: Ask students to send a 15 second Instagram video saying what they like about their youth ministry. Grab those videos and compile them into a video that you show at one of your programs.
- God is…: Same as “I Love My youth Group” but these can be short testimonies.
- Thought Of The Week: Ask students to Instagram, Tweet, or Facebook a picture of their sermon notes or the “thought of the week.” Or just type up a tweet or facebook status update of their favorite thought, message point, or application. Have them add a #hashtag.
- Cellphone Shootout (free graphics here): This is a game where I give out my cell number and the 1st person to call me gets a prize. If you don’t want to give out your cell number to a room full of obnoxious teens consider getting a free Google Voice number to give out.
- Simply Youth Ministry TOOLS: Have studnets sign up for text blasts and feed them news, announcements and encouragement texts throughout the week.
Help grow this list. What have you done or what is practical to do?
Brandon
@uthguy9
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“If you don’t want to give out your cell number to a room full of obnoxious teens…”
This strikes me as odd. All my students have my number. Did I miss something?
Some people don’t give their number out, I think Google Voice is a great alternative.
“If you don’t want to give out your cell number to a room full of obnoxious teens…”
This strikes me as odd. All my students have my number. Did I miss something?
Some people don’t give their number out, I think Google Voice is a great alternative.
These are some really good ideas. I recently started working with the youth and did not want to dwell on the negativity caused but cell phones. These suggestions might turn a negative into a positive.
Thanks!
These are some really good ideas. I recently started working with the youth and did not want to dwell on the negativity caused but cell phones. These suggestions might turn a negative into a positive.
Thanks!
Great ideas. I am looking to create a cell phone ministry, one for parents and one for kids. I want to embed 1-3 minute video or audio files so that folks that are less willing or able to go to the Bible but have their phones glued to their hands can get immediate access to great content on the run. Not ideal as the best way to get God’s Word is to soak it in (crock pot vs microwave), but this could work well for some busy folks whose alternative would be to spend no time in God’s Word. I have a full time job outside of the ministry and am looking for great content that I can easily package and share. I have sources like GodTube and some BlueFish content, but looking for suggestions (or hopefully this will inspire some of you to start sending messages like this).
Great ideas. I am looking to create a cell phone ministry, one for parents and one for kids. I want to embed 1-3 minute video or audio files so that folks that are less willing or able to go to the Bible but have their phones glued to their hands can get immediate access to great content on the run. Not ideal as the best way to get God’s Word is to soak it in (crock pot vs microwave), but this could work well for some busy folks whose alternative would be to spend no time in God’s Word. I have a full time job outside of the ministry and am looking for great content that I can easily package and share. I have sources like GodTube and some BlueFish content, but looking for suggestions (or hopefully this will inspire some of you to start sending messages like this).
I am debating on whether to take cell phones away during service (so they’re not a distraction) or use them to my advantage. I’m thinking if I go with the “use them” route, I can have kids google facts pertaining to the message I’m giving, or have a contest to see who can find the scripture verses quicker (bonus points if it’s one someone has memorized and they can recite it without a phone or Bible). I was thinking of doing Bible trivia as well… but I might just require memory for that one. 🙂